Neurological disorders are conditions involving the nervous system. A neurological disorder is a disease or injury of the central nervous system that causes paralysis of any part of the body. Sometimes physical injury to the brain, spinal cord, or nerves can be the cause of neurological disorders. Sometimes they can result from biochemical causes. Other times, the cause may be unkown and only the effects are seen. Neurological disorders can be a sign that there is an imbalance in your system. When you have an imbalance, you are also susceptible to various diseases which can settle in weak areas of your body.
Neurological disorders are a group of disorders that involve the central nervous system (brain, brainstem and cerebellum), the peripheral nervous system (including cranial nerves), and the autonomic nervous system (parts of which are located in both central and peripheral nervous system). Major branches are headache, stupor and coma, dementia, seizure, sleep disorders, trauma, infections, neoplasms, neuroophthalmology, movement disorders, demyelinating diseases, spinal cord disorders, and disorders of peripheral nerves, muscle and neuromuscular junctions.
Neurological disabilities are associated with damage to the nervous system (including the brain and spinal cord) that results in the loss of some bodily or mental functions. Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), and Epilepsy are two of the most prevalent neurological disabilities. Heart attacks, infections, genetic disorders, and lack of oxygen to the brain may also result in a neurological disability.
Neurological disorders are quite diverse, chronic, challenging to treat, and often disabling. They can be caused by many different factors, including (but not limited to): inherited genetic abnormalities, problems in the immune system, injury to the brain or nervous system, or diabetes. Many mental illnesses are believed to be neurological disorders of the central nervous system, but they are classified separately. They are not traditionally listed as neurological diseases because their causes are not definitely determined as biological, although there are good reasons to suspect that bipolar disorder and schizophrenia have neuro-chemical causes. The human central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. These lie in the midline of the body and are associated with the skull and vertebrae respectively. The central nervous system along with the peripheral nervous system comprise a primary division of controls that command all physical activities of a vertebrate. Neurons of the central nervous system affect consciousness and mental activity while spinal extensions of central nervous system neuron pathways affect skeletal muscles and organs in the body.
Neurology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Medical professionals (such as Biomedical Doctors and Physicians) specializing in the field of neurology are called neurologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with neurological disorders. Most neurologists are trained to treat and diagnose adults with neurological disorders. Pediatric neurologists, nearly always a subspecialty of pediatrics, treat neurological disease in children. Neurologists may also be involved in clinical research, clinical trials, as well as basic research and translational research.
Neurological disorders are disorders that affect the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), the peripheral nervous system (peripheral nerves - cranial nerves included), or the autonomic nervous system.
Major conditions include:
- behavioral/cognitive syndromes
- headache disorders such as migraine, cluster headache and tension headache [seizure]] disorders
- neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease).
- cerebrovascular disease, such as transient ischemic attack and stroke.
- sleep disorders
- cerebral palsy
- infections of the brain (encephalitis), brain meninges (meningitis), spinal cord (myelitis)
- infections of the peripheral nervous system, such as botulism
- neoplasms - tumors of the brain and its meninges (brain tumors), spinal cord tumors, tumors of the peripheral nerves (neuroma)
- movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, hemiballismus, tic disorder, and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome
- demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, and of the peripheral nervous system, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
- spinal cord disorders - tumors, infections, trauma, malformations (e.g., myelocele, meningomyelocele, tethered cord)
- disorders of peripheral nerves, muscle (myopathy) and neuromuscular junctions
- traumatic injuries to the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves
- altered mental status, encephalopathy, stupor and coma
- speech and language disorders
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